Ten Devices Set to rival the iPad 2

[iDan]

While the iPad has had the benefit of a surprise attack, its successor will not be so lucky. Many manufacturers, some from the Android battlefront, others sporting original “home-made†operating systems have worked hard and prepared their reply to the new iPad 2.

HP TouchPad
Scheduled to reach stores on July 1, Hewlett Packard’s creation incorporates many interesting features, including the ability to connect an HP smartphone for data transfer purposes through a simple physical touch between the two devices. This and the improved webOS as well as full multitasking support make the TouchPad a powerful contender.

RIM BlackBerry PlayBook
While it will never match the iPad 2’s technical abilities, the Research In Motion tablet is a great alternative to Apple’s design for enterprise users, being perfectly compatible with BlackBerry smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Currently considered the best Android tablet on the market, it is clear why this device will strongly compete with the iPad 2. It’s 10.1 inch display will certainly attract consumers who want to enjoy games and other such forms of entertainment.

Apple MacBook Air
While some would say that comparing two different device types makes no sense, MacBook Air’s lightweight and thing profile, as well as the soon implementation of Max OS X Lion, which will bring multitouch gestures to the platform ensure that the iPad 2 will not be the only Apple product presenting sleek hand-on functionality.

Sony S1
The tablet will come with a 9.4 inch display and Android operating system. While it will certainly not beat the iPad 2, Sony’s implementation of Qriocity as well as the PlayStation Suite, a platform allowing users to enjoy old PS 1 games on the tablet, the S1 will most likely grab its fair share of the market.

Sony S2
A stronger creation from the manufacturing company, the S2 will come with two 5.5†displays that can be used either individually or together, creating unique possibilities in the tablet market. Moreover, to sustain this feature, the tablet will sport a clamshell design, enabling consumers to fold the device in order to increase its mobility. This tablet, perhaps even more so than the S1, will indeed prove to be a threat.

Apple iPhone 4
Again, like the MacBook Air, this will prove to compete with the iPad due to similarities in functions and design. Moreover, unlike the iPad 2, the iPhone 4 can also make calls.

HP Pavilion dm3t Laptop
While the tablet tries to incorporate as many work-related features, ultimately if users want to have increased productivity as well as speed, the Pavilion dm3t, around the same price as an iPad 2, will certainly appease them.

Toshiba Thrive
Perhaps not the best of the Android front, the tablet comes with a 10.1 inch display and a front as well as rear-facing cameras. However, coming on at $429.99 or $479.99 depending on storage, it is certainly cheaper than the iPad 2.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

Although certainly limited to a very select clientele, this notebook is small, easily mobile, and perfectly suited for users who run their daily routine around web-based apps.

For more discussions on tablets, be sure to check out some of these sites: AndroidTablets.net, GalaxyTabForums.net, ThriveForums.org, XoomForums.com, TransformerForums.com

By Radu Tyrsina

 

[SingingSabre]

I've played with the Playbook. It's complete rubbish.

Any Android device is 50 times easier to use than that thing. It's not even worth comparing it to the ease of an iPad.

 

[charlyee]

The BB Playbook needs a BB phone plugged in to access the BB Servers like BIS and BES, that is a definite FAIL.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[monochrome]

It's the apps that will keep the iPad on top. Most of them are touting flash. But saw ad for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, when pushing that it had flash, the words Wifi needed popped up on the screen.

 

[Mountainbikermark]

Thank you idan. I've joined the first 2 because I know they are sister sites with relevance to my needs.
Ladies and gentlemen I suggest when searching for forums look for sister sites to this one. They are all well run by a devoted staff like this one and they are well executed I'm their layouts.

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[Seadog]

The reviews came out on the HP Touchpad and they were not kind. So far the Samsung Galaxy is the closest thing to a rival for the iPad and it is not making any headway. The WebOS may be better than the Android versions, but once again they have proven that Flash is not a viable option on any tablet.

 

[singlestick]

The problem with most of these tablets is that they seek to rival or "kill" the iPad. This is not the same thing as appealing to a potential user. Tablets that are supposedly aimed at enterprise customers are competing not only with the iPad, but directly with desktops and laptops; but they immediately fail here since competing tablets don't come with a strong suite of business apps.

What you are left with is the standard appeal to geeks: sexy hardware with the promise of a more complete, more usable system down the road.

But geek appeal is not the same thing as broad customer appeal.

The sad thing is that the lack of real competition is not good for Apple.

And also note the recent PEW study on tablet use (sorry, I don't know how to link inTapaTalk). The market for ebook readers is growing faster than the market for tablets. People will quickly embrace devices that let them do what they want to do, easily, effectively, elegantly.

Anything else is just noise.

 

[Qcrow]

The problem with most of these tablets is that they seek to rival or "kill" the iPad. This is not the same thing as appealing to a potential user. Tablets that are supposedly aimed at enterprise customers are competing not only with the iPad, but directly with desktops and laptops; but they immediately fail here since competing tablets don't come with a strong suite of business apps.

What you are left with is the standard appeal to geeks: sexy hardware with the promise of a more complete, more usable system down the road.

But geek appeal is not the same thing as broad customer appeal.

The sad thing is that the lack of real competition is not good for Apple.

And also note the recent PEW study on tablet use (sorry, I don't know how to link inTapaTalk). The market for ebook readers is growing faster than the market for tablets. People will quickly embrace devices that let them do what they want to do, easily, effectively, elegantly.

Anything else is just noise.

I completely agree, but I have one thing to add, Everyone knows about the iPad, fewer people know about these other tablets, that means better sales for apple. Competition is good it makes a better product in the end

 

[Mountainbikermark]

No one but fanboys are trying to kill the ipad. Other tablet manufacturers just want in on as much of the revenue of tablet sales as they can get.
The fact that Apple took a chance, before tablet sales exploded, and pre bought most of the parts needed for tablets just shows the forward thinking and/or sheer luck of Apple. Now the competition waited and Japan moved a few inches, literally, is a win for Apple in revenue. I've said before, I'll say it again. Only Apple could ever be an Idevice killer.

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[singlestick]

No one but fanboys are trying to kill the ipad. Other tablet manufacturers just want in on as much of the revenue of tablet sales as they can get.
The fact that Apple took a chance, before tablet sales exploded, and pre bought most of the parts needed for tablets just shows the forward thinking and/or sheer luck of Apple. Now the competition waited and Japan moved a few inches, literally, is a win for Apple in revenue. I've said before, I'll say it again. Only Apple could ever be an Idevice killer.

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There are quite a few tech writers who are on the lookout for a supposed iPad killer. It's easy and lazy to look at things through the filter of a technology grudge match between Apple and other companies. And they love to come out with useless charts trying to predict who will be dominant in the tablet or smartphone market 10 years from now.

But you are right that other companies just want a piece of the action.

 

[Mountainbikermark]

Writers are fanboys . Some are direct and in your face about it, some are more subtle but can be seen by their words of praise toward one direction or "study". It's not just gadgets writers but ideology writers as well.

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[Mountainbikermark]

From the marketing of the first ipods by making them personal, Apple has a niche in the market no one will ever dominate. The siloughette of the impersonal person dancing with their iPod resonated with the average consumer in a way not seen before, except in KFC ads promising mom a Sunday off from cooking for the family, or since

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[idave23]

The sad thing is that the lack of real competition is not good for Apple.

Good for Apple. Bad for Apple users.

 

[Mountainbikermark]

Well said Dave

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[singlestick]

Writers are fanboys . Some are direct and in your face about it, some are more subtle but can be seen by their words of praise toward one direction or "study". It's not just gadgets writers but ideology writers as well.

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Yeah, some writers are fanboys. But more writers and their editors are just lazy and shallow. And the easiest article to write, to get a fast reader attention, is a story about the next iPad killer.